As our world gets connected by global networks of fibers and terrestrial links, exchange of information serves as the backbone of our modern society. Achieving this with high-dimensional states promises higher information capacity, but progress in this field has been limited. Quantum technologies could possibly enable such kinds of exchange to be more fundamentally secure.
Quantum Networks in Communication
Quantum communication over long distances is important to information security. It has been demonstrated with two-dimensional states over very long distances between satellites. This seems enough compared to its classical counterpart such as sending bits of information one at a time.
Moreover, quantum optics allows experts to securely describe more complex systems in a shot, such as a face or a unique fingerprint. In the traditional setting, two communicating parties send the information physically from one to the other, even in the quantum realm.
It is now possible to teleport information without physically traveling across the connection. Unfortunately, it has only been demonstrated with 3D states which means that it needs additional entangled photons to reach higher dimensions.
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Quantum Transport of the Highest Dimensionality
A research by experts from Wits University and The Institute of Photonic Sciences has demonstrated the transport of patterns of light which resembles teleportation. The study, reported in the paper "Quantum transport of high-dimensional spatial information with a nonlinear detector" is the first attempt to transport images across a network without physically sending the image. It also serves as an important step towards realizing a quantum network for high-dimensional entangled states.
Led by Dr. Bereneice Sephton, the research team used a nonlinear optical detector which eliminates the need for additional photons yet works for any pattern that must be sent. The team reported 15 new state-of-the-art dimensions which could pave the way for quantum network connections with high information capacity.
The practical application of this technology can be observed in a bank setting. Some customers may be required to send a bank their sensitive information such as a fingerprint. In traditional quantum communication, the information needs to be physically sent from the customer to the bank, putting it at risk of interception. In the newly proposed quantum transport mechanism, the bank sends a single photon with no information to the customer, who then overlaps it on a nonlinear detector with the data that needs to be sent.
As a result, the information appears at the bank precisely as if it had been teleported. Since no information is sent physically, interception would be fruitless. Meanwhile, the quantum link that connects the parties is established by the exchange of quantum entangled photons.
Such a protocol contains all the elements of teleportation except for one component. It needs a bright laser beam to make the nonlinear detector efficient and inform the sender what is to be sent. In this sense, this technology is not strictly teleportation, but could be in the future if the nonlinear detector is made more efficient.
As of now, it offers a new pathway for connecting quantum networks, opening the way for nonlinear quantum optics as a resource. Researchers hope that their experiment would motivate further advances in the nonlinear optics community by pushing the limits towards a full quantum implementation.
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